Podcast #230 – The Library of Congress Launches Podcast Preservation Project
On this week’s episode we learn about a brand new project at the Library of Congress that is focused entirely on archiving podcasts. Ted Westervelt, Manager of the Podcast Preservation Project at Library of Congress, joins us to share early details from this new initiative. He explains that the hope is that a wide variety […]
College Radio Watch: Mapping U.S. Radio and More News
I’ve often dreamed of a college radio map, so I absolutely love the radio visualizations crafted by Erin Davis. While it’s not a pragmatic guide to find radio stations, her beautiful service contour maps give a general sense of how certain formats of FM radio are dispersed across the continental United States. The college radio […]
Podcast #229 – Reading the PIRATE Act
The PIRATE Act, recently passed by Congress, is intended to stem the tide of unlicensed radio broadcasting by providing the Federal Communications Commission with new tools. Chief amongst them are new maximum fines, and a shortcut to issuing them. But will this really work? Author and radio scholar John Anderson says that a lot of […]
College Radio Watch: College Radio in the 2010s, WCWS-FM Buyer, KMSM to Leave Air? and More News
In these early days of 2020, we’ve been taking a look back at the big radio trends from the past decade. It’s pretty mind-boggling to tally all of the changes in radio and technology since 2010. Amid it all, college radio experienced both highs and lows, but ultimately leaves the decade as strong as ever. […]
Podcast #228 – College Radio’s Biggest Decade
Last week we declared that the 2010s were a banner decade for community radio. As Jennifer notes, though college radio had a tough start to the last decade, with the loss of prominent stations like KUSF, KTRU and WRVU, the service seriously bounced back, aided by factors like the low-power FM boom, internet radio, HD […]
More College Radio than Ever in the 2010s as it Takes New Forms
Big changes came to college radio in the 2010s, with dramatic losses and exciting new opportunities, leading to perhaps more college radio than ever before thanks to the variety of forms that college radio now takes. Despite the challenges, college radio is as resilient as ever and students’ desire to work in audio is strong […]
Preservation is One of the Most Important Radio Trends of the Decade
Welcome to 2020! As Matthew Lasar noted this week, this year marks the 100th anniversary of some significant moments in radio history, including KDKA’s first broadcast. While other stations were on the air with regular broadcasts prior to 1920 (shout out to Doc Herrold’s early broadcasts to fellow radio amateurs); KDKA’s debut is a rallying […]
Want a Radio Station License? April Is the Next Chance (at Least for 127 Cities)
We love getting email from readers and listeners, and by far the most common inquiry we receive is asking how one can get a radio station license. For the last four years or so we haven’t had a good answer, because there hasn’t been an FCC license auction or application window since July 2015. Though […]
Podcast #227 – A Banner Decade for Community Radio and FrankenFMs
We begin part one of our review of the last decade in radio with the observation that it saw the greatest expansion of community radio in history. Though the second US LPFM licensing window that happened in 2013 is a significant driver, the growth happened all over the world. The 2010s were also a growth […]
The Greatest Flowering of Community Radio in History Happened in the 2010s
Mid-way through the last decade I declared that, “[w]ith regard to new stations going on the air, 2015 represented the biggest single-year leap forward for non-commercial and community radio in U.S. history.” That’s because 524 new low-power FM stations signed on that year. That was an increase of 56% over the number of existing LPFMs […]